Photography and Videography Blog

Fighting Antisemitism on CMU’s Campus

In February, an Antisemtic valentine made at party hosted by the College Republicans was passed out in Ansapch Hall. This valentine stated “My love burns for you like 6,000 Jews” and in addition had a cutout if Hilter placed on it. A photo of this valentine was posted to Facebook immediately afterwards and spread through social media like wildfire. The posts caught the attention of various News organizations and reached all the way to the Israeli Press. In addition, the Jewish student organization at CMU, Hillel, was informed and they contacted the Office of Civil Rights and Institutional Equity to combat the valentine and to hold a formal inquiry. As a result it was learned that the valentine did not come from a registered CMU student, CMU’s President Ross issued an email to the campus apologizing for the valentine, and the College Republicans issued an apology via Facebook.

The campus came together a day later to hold a rally and peaceful march against hate speech on campus. Members from Hillel, Hadley Platek and Steven Keene both shared their experiences with Antisemitism and many other community members spoke up about their experiences involving hate speech. The OCRIE office also held two town halls one on Faith and the other on Free Speech to help educate the campus student body.